Yes, I know, walking down these brightly lit, tiled-sidewalk streets with the happening cafes, shops, and panaderias, you think you have it all. But are you forgetting about your poor people who can’t afford to pay 653€ for a stroller? There are people here without jobs, and your solution is to raise taxes on children’s textbooks and raise gas prices?

I have a better idea. Why don’t you copy America and sell things. USED.

Yes, I know it’s a foreign concept (hence the America part). But my husband and I went into the only two shops in this city we could find that offer used products, what we would call back home pawn shops, and were able to buy a like-new scooter for our girls for 9.50€, when we saw the exact same one at the Chinese store for 28€! Why would anyone in their right mind pay 28€ when they can pay 9.50€?

But that isn’t the point. The point is, that pawn shop was PACKED. Every time we’ve walked by, when it’s closed, people are waiting outside for it to open. And everyone in Spain was there this morning trying to find something used. Or sell something to make a little extra money.

These people have a plan, but it isn’t complete. I know you’re obsessed with your clothing here (don’t tell me different–I’ve seen the coordinated, designer-clad two-year-olds walking about), but it’s time to market that desire. Have you ever heard of a consignment shop? A used furniture store? Play-it-Again Sports? You people are missing out on a market that could turn this country around!! Everyone benefits! People sell, people buy, the business takes a cut, we all get a good deal and have more money to pour into your small cafes, panaderias, and the like.

Forget your government corruption, your doomed banks. Find some savvy investors and open just one shop. Start with baby and children’s items. It’s a win-win. Everyone here loves families, and everyone here wants a bargain. I guarantee that within a few months you’ll turn a beautiful profit, enough to open an adjacent shop selling clothing… you get the idea. Screw your instability. As we always say in teaching, no sense in reinventing the wheel. It wouldn’t be the first time you copied an idea from America, nor the last…

Hey, I’m no business major, but a girl’s gotta survive. A country’s gotta survive. What do you think, España??